The Redemption of Peridot: Video Games
by Oreo Stories
Summary: Steven lets Peridot play video games with him; character growth ensues. This is not canon as of 'Back to the Barn'. One-Shot.


**Steven Universe and any other series, franchises, or properties that I may include or reference do not belong to me. This is a non-profit work.**

* * *

Peridot once again paced around the bathroom. She needed to escape, to regain her limb enhancers, to contact homeworld and get off of this doomed planet. Unfortunately, she could not do any of that. Without her limb enhancers, she was powerless, and the traitors constantly watched her. She suspected that there were cameras in the bathroom, as well.

There was no point in lamenting her situation, however. The best course of action was to figure out a way to escape, with or without her limb enhancers.

The Steven regularly came to this room to perform cleansing rituals and expel waste generated by the act known as 'eating', the latter of which was extremely disgusting and unsanitary. She was encouraged to leave the room during those times, but that did not provide her with any escape; the traitors known as the 'Crystal Gems' would keep their weapons trained on her. Any hope for catching them by surprise was moot, as well, as she was out of destabilizers and her explosive charges were too powerful to use in such an enclosed space.

Once again, Peridot paced around the bathroom, struggling to determine her next course of action.

Then the Steven entered. Not enough time had passed for a cleansing ritual, and he did not show any of the signs indicative of waste disposal. Why was he here?

"Hey, Peridot. I figure you're bored in here, so why don't we do something fun?"

The Steven was offering entertainment? She doubted his guardians would allow her out of the building, and she could not for the life of her determine what they could do here. She voiced her doubt, but allowed him to lead her into the rest of the building, which was nothing more than a single large room divided into multiple sections. He led her to a raised platform, atop which was an extremely soft horizontal resting platform. Next to it was some sort of screen, attached to which were multiple electronic devices with handheld control pads attached. Steven pressed a button on the screen, used a remote to configure the settings, and pressed a button on one of the electronic devices, revealing a disc, something that Peridot had only seen in historical videos. The Steven swapped the disc for another one held in a plastic case, then closed the tray. He pressed another button, turning on the device, revealing an animated video that lead to the title: Kirby Air Ride. Peridot was suspicious, but the Steven picked up a controller and offered her another. She noticed one of the Crystal Clods watching them, so she decided to play along.

Peridot was very happy. The game was deceptively simple, but difficult to master and _very_ fun. She had even stopped glancing back at the Crystal Clod watching them and simply let herself have fun. She had tried out all three modes, each of which providing a different variation of the same gameplay, and she had played each one until she defeated the Steven in each sub-variation, then moved on to the next one. It had taken several hours, but she could honestly say that they were well-spent. After all, worrying about her escape was not helpful, and, until she could determine a plan of escape, she might as well have fun.

* * *

Seven Earth days had passed since Peridot was first introduced to what Steven had called 'video games', and she could honestly say that she had not thought about escaping since that first day. Steven was so kind to her, and made sure that she enjoyed herself. He even allowed her to play single-player games, simply watching and helping if asked. The Crystal Gems had become more lenient, as well, simply staying nearby instead of training an eye and weapon on her at all times. Peridot decided that she wished to explore her surroundings tomorrow; after all, if the humans could create such wonderful electronic entertainment, they couldn't be _too_ bad, right?

* * *

Steven had gladly introduced Peridot to the local humans, and, though all three Crystal Gems had come along, they were lenient and not overly suspicious. She had particularly enjoyed talking with the human known as 'Ronaldo', who was the offspring and helper of one of the local food salesman. The concept of an economy was certainly a strange one, but it made sense; when a population was not as unified as the homeworld was, a method of compensation (or enforcement) for the necessary tasks was needed.

The Steven had even managed to get her to eat something known as a 'donut', which proved surprisingly informative. The humans apparently had types of food whose sole purpose was providing pleasure to its imbibers, and Peridot was no exception. It was very good, and she figured that expelling waste was a fair price to pay for the sheer pleasure it brought her.

* * *

Peridot had been enjoying herself as of late. Steven had taken her to several food establishments and even cooked himself, and Peridot was thoroughly enjoying it. The Crystal Gems had even been more lenient, allowing her to go out with only the Steven and the kindergarten gem watching her, and it had paid off. Ronaldo had endeared himself to her, and had proven surprisingly perceptive and intelligent. She had given him several harmless pieces of tech to tinker around with, and he figured out how they worked and what they were used for in only a few days. She had also met a human known as Connie, who, despite her initial suspicions, soon came to like her.

Peridot hadn't thought of the homeworld in quite some time, and none of her beacons had sent out a signal indicating that homeworld had sent anyone. She did not care, though; she was enjoying her time here, and she had suspected from the start that Homeworld wouldn't send anyone for her. After all, to them, she was a disposable tool. To Steven, however, she was a person and a friend. He made her feel happier than she had ever known possible, and she would always be grateful for his kindness.

* * *

It had been another wonderful day when it had happened. The Homeworld had returned with a vengeance, and even a six-way fusion, made from Steven, Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, and Lapis Lazuli, had not been enough to defeat their forces. They had become desperate, but Peridot knew what had to be done. She used her explosive charges as traps, and when she ran out, she fully gave herself in to the massive fusion. Their combined power had defeated the invaders, and they had even captured one of the invaders for questioning. The soldier confirmed her suspicions: homeworld was here to restart the kindergarten and pump out more gems. The war against homeworld's long-time enemy had started back up, and they needed more gems to have any chance of winning.

Steven, however, was determined to end it all. Using her own knowledge, they repaired the galaxy warp and made it only respond to them. They took the fight to homeworld, and they won. They then took the fight to the true enemy, and said enemy was soundly defeated.

* * *

It had been many years since homeworld finally found peace, and Peridot was happy. The Crystal Gems had helped integrate any gems that came to earth into human society, and Beach City had become a bustling hub of technological progress and gem-human integration. There had been many more hybrids born since then, and Peridot herself had determined a method of retaining a gem's mind and memories after being reborn. However, as much as the other gems may have enjoyed becoming part human and having their own families, she did not see the point; she was happy as she was, and did not need offspring or romantic relations.

Steven and Connie had married, and were pleasantly surprised to find that the children of hybrids were hybrids as well. They had named their daughter Rose Quartz, and she certainly lived up to the name; her gem was that of her father, and she took after her grandmother in looks. Pearl was ecstatic when she first met little Rose, and had taken to being her grandmother quite well.

It was certainly interesting; Peridot would have never even imagined the sheer level of happiness and contentment she now felt every day before meeting Steven and the Crystal Gems, yet here she was.


End file.
